Folklore Friday - The Curse of Scotland

The Curse of Scotland is a name
given to the 9 of Diamonds Card. An expression used since the early
18th century, the story goes that on the eve of the Battle
of Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland was playing cards with his senior
staff. A young officer approached his table, asking him what the
Duke's orders for battle were. The Duke ordered 'no quarter' to
the Jacobites, which terrified the officer as he envisioned the
bloodbath to come. He requested that the order be written down and in
annoyance, the Duke grabbed a playing card and wrote down his order.
The card the Duke wrote on was the 9 of Diamonds.

Another story tells of the
Glencoe Massacre, where Sir John Dalrymple, the first Earl of Stair,
ordered the massacre of the Glencoe MacDonalds. The massacre caused
an outcry across Britain. The Stair coat of arms bears a striking
resemblance to the 9 of Diamonds playing card and therefore gained
it's name as the Curse of Scotland.